Early
Friday morning, a story made its way over to Engadget detailing
the next generation Xbox 360 console. Engadget showed a single image of
the I/O ports on the back of console complete with a new HDMI port. The story also
noted that Zephyr would feature a cool-running 65 nanometer IBM Xenon
PowerPC processor and larger 120GB hard drive. The leaked details of the
upgraded hardware on the Xbox 360 have lead to furious debates online spreading
to sites like AnandTech,
Engadget
and Xbox-Scene.
But
that is not all that Microsoft has in store for Xbox 360 owners this year. The
other half of Microsoft’s grand scheme, a serious Microsoft bid for the IPTV
market, was leaked
on early Saturday by Dean Takahashi. Takahashi, a blogger for A+E Interactive, has
always had excellent access to industry leaders including NVIDIA CEO Jen-Hsuan Huang
and Microsoft COO Kevin
Turner.
Microsoft
today confirmed what was earlier reported by Takahashi -- the Xbox 360 will not
only serve as a game console, Media Center
Extender and a portal
for TV show/movie downloads, but it will also serve as an IPTV (Internet
Protocol Television) device.
Although
Microsoft made no official announcement of providers for IPTV service on the
Xbox 360, AT&T already uses Microsoft IPTV software
and is likely to jump onboard. And with services like video-on-demand (VOD) and
digital video recording likely to be provided, it makes perfect sense that
Microsoft would be likely be pushing a larger 120GB hard drive instead of the
"paltry" 20GB currently in service.
Microsoft’s
Xbox 360 currently has the ability of streaming high-definition content through
the use of a Windows Media Center PC. IPTV allows users to take advantage of
high-definition TV programming over a standard broadband connection without the
need for a PC. Microsoft says that the service will roll out later this year.
The
addition of IPTV on the Xbox 360 platform would give Microsoft a distinct
advantage over its Japanese rivals. Consumers will now having gaming, access to
PC multimedia content, online access to music/music videos, downloadable TV
shows and movies, IPTV with PVR and VOD and the option of HD DVD playback
with the Xbox 360 HD
DVD drive all from a single console. Microsoft is truly attempting to make
the Xbox 360 the multimedia centerpiece for your connected home and this may
just be the icing on the cake.
